Most people know what "burners" are, especially if you watched The Wire, aka the greatest show to bless the small screen during the 21st century. Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray knows as well, and he's claiming that the cell phones and personal email accounts are not part of his administration.
Gray was caught off guard at a press conference following a Washington Postreport that D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi used a private email account for business.Gray hung in there, noting that the CFO's office is independent, and therefore out of his reach to a certain extent. What's he to do if they take their work home with them?
The City Paper went a little deeper, uncovering emails sent by Gray and predecessor Adrian Fenty from their personal accounts. Government activist Dorothy Brizill had to break it to Gray that some of his staffers were using burners to talk without the pesky press catching on. This is the point where things become similar to The Wire.
The beauty of David Simon's masterpiece is that it exposed the tie that binds each level of society. From the Mayor's office to the drug dealers, everything is exactly the same. The rules of the drug game mirror the inner-workings of the government, and the same practices and politics are as important on the street as they are in City Hall. As you read this, it's happening in Baltimore, D.C. and every other city in America.
Long live the game.
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